Photos of modular homes being built at 13550 105th Ave. It’s one of the three sites in Surrey that together will house 160 units of ‘emergency’ transitional housing for the homeless. (Black Press Media files)

Modular housing projects to create 2,000 jobs in B.C.: Horgan

B.C. companies are being contracted to build some of the 2,000 modular housing units in province

As an indirect component of the NDP government’s highly-touted 30-point housing plan, the province expects 2,000 jobs to be created through the construction and operations of new modular housing projects across B.C.

While in Kamloops Saturday, Premier John Horgan said some B.C. manufacturers contracted to construct supportive housing units are hiring more staff to meet demands of the projects.

“We expect to create 2,050 direct and indirect jobs as we tackle the homelessness crisis,” he said in a news release.

One of those companies is Kamloops-based Horizon North, contracted to build 114 new supportive homes for two sites in the Thompson Rivers area. Those projects are expected to be complete before the end of this year, the province said.

Manufacturers from Kelowna, Penticton, Courtenay and Westbank are also building modular units in the respective cities.

The projects are part of the provincial housing plan, announced in the 2017 budget, that includes $291 million earmarked for 2,000 modular supportive housing units to be built over two years in the cities hit hardest by homelessness.